Look up. Barrie's skyline might be changing yet again.
A proposal for a mixed-use development featuring five towers ranging from 51 to 61 storeys in height—one of the tallest developments ever contemplated in the city—went before councillors Wednesday during their affordability committee meeting.
The presentation by Ray Duhamel of Jones Consulting Group outlined a project with frontage on Bradford Street, Ellen Street, and John Street that would include 1,793 units, including 359 affordable units, along with commercial uses at grade, a luxury hotel, a restaurant, and a parking garage.
"You are moving the needle," he said. "Instead of a little bit here, a little bit there,” he said. “But you can only achieve it by going big.”
Designed and positioned as a high-density redevelopment along a key corridor near downtown Barrie, the project is expected to cost upwards of $1 billion to construct, which will be privately invested.
It would also include structured parking with 161 spots contained on an 11-storey "podium", as well as rooftop amenities.
The subject lot on Bradford Street is currently vacant, while the lands on Ellen Street currently contain a detached dwelling with a commercial tenant. Should the rezoning application be successful, that would be demolished.
Duhamel says the owner is looking to begin sales as soon as possible, with a site plan submission to be finished by the end of the month.
Although 80 per cent of the units would be residential market units, Duhamel's confident argument for the approval heavily leaned on the "unprecedented" level of affordable housing and the transformation of Bradford Street.
"It is an opportunity that is screaming to help the City of Barrie," Duhamel said. "There's so much potential that is not being realized... it's been talk and thought but it hasn't transitioned into actual action."
Coun. Craig Nixon, who represents Ward 2 where the site is located, says the biggest hurdle will be finding enough people to buy those units.
"it's a risky business," he said to Barrie360.
"They're showing a lot of confidence in this town by spending a billion dollars on something that may or may not pan out, and if it does, it could take 20 years."
The proposal to amend zoning by-laws for the area will now move through the City’s planning approval process.
Ian Rowe, a retired lawyer, was one of three residents who made statements during the meeting. He argued that the site should not be rezoned from council's precedent, and referenced nearby condominium buildings east of the site as a height comparison.
"If those buildings are tall, what's proposed here is four times the height of those towers," he said. "It's completely out of character for the City of Barrie."
If approved, the development would represent one of the largest intensification projects proposed in Barrie to date. A recent downtown tower development, which can be seen from across the city, reaches as high as 31 storeys, the tallest building in the city.
Rowe said people he has spoken to call that building an “eyesore.”
Meanwhile, in the area of Highway 400 and Bayfield Street, another development set to be completed by late 2026 or early 2027 will have two towers, 25 and 27 storeys tall, with 32 affordable housing units.
